On my
way to church this Sunday morning, I had already received four emails to pray
for people going through hardships. A mom requested prayers for her daughter
who had another miscarriage. A daughter’s father had died last week and she was
bringing her family to church. Another man was told that he has pnenomia and a fourth
was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
The
gospel story was about people in the bible who did not believe in the
resurrection. Today, these might be the people who are too busy to think much
about God, religion or resurrection. Their time is taken up with building or acclimating
more stuff. They are the online shoppers who have half their Christmas list
completed. No more Black Friday shopping for them, they do all their buying
online. But what about eternity and the gift of the resurrection.
In
this pre-Advent season, we might remember that the name Immanuel, means ‘God is
with us.” And at the end of His life Jesus reminded us, “I am with you all
days, even till the end of time.” He added,’ So do not be afraid. I go, prepare
a place for you.”
Some
folks get bogged down in lots of me questions. Will I still need my
contacts? Will I look like I am
now or when I was twenty-one and lots of hair? What about those poor souls
cremated, those eaten by sharks, those pulverized by explosives? Will my kitty
be there? Will I know my friends?
As
curious as we are about these and wonder how God can reassemble broken bodies,
we must accept the fact that the resurrection is not about us. The resurrection
is about God and God’s fidelity to a promise, God’s promise never to abandon
us. God will work out the logistics.
In
2008, Dr. Alexander contracted bacterial meningitis. The deadly infection
soaked his brain and sent him into a deep coma. During that week, as life
slipped away, he was living intensely in his mind. He was reborn into a
primitive mucky Jell-o-like substance and then guided by “a beautiful girl with
high cheekbones and deep blue eyes” on the wings of a butterfly to an “immense
void” that is both “pitch black” and “brimming with light” coming from an “orb”
that interprets for an all-loving God.
While
his book, “Proof of Heaven” makes little mention of God or angels, his message
to those who deal with dying is one of relief. “Our spirit is not dependent on
the brain or body,” he said. “It is eternal, and no one has one sentence worth
of hard evidence that it isn't."
Lord,
I pray for all my Sonshine Friends whose anxiety makes them worry too much and
focus on themselves. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believe in me shall live forever.” That’s a promise that will be kept.
